Raising and lowering means for lawn umbrellas



F. H. OGDEN May 29, 1956 RAISING AND LOWERING MEANS FOR LAWN UMBRELLAS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 26, 1955 Fie.1.

INVENTOR.

May 29, 1956 F. H. OGDEN 2,747,591

RAISING AND LOWERING MEANS FOR LAWN UMBRELLAS Filed Jan. 26, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. FLOYD H. OGDEN,

United Sttes RAISING AND LOWERING MEANS FOR LAWN UMBRELLASFloydI-IIOgden, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

-Application.Januai'y26,:1955, Serial No; 484,141

2 Claims. (Cl. 13520) invention relates toameans' for raising andlowering'th'e' conventional beach or lawn umbrella, and has particularreference to a winding ,device whereby the umbrella may be elevated totheextendedposition and locked against shifting without the aid of theusual and weir-known spring latch.

'I'lieidevice'conte'mplates novel clampaon devices that areen'gagedwiththe usual standard or pole of the umbrella and with one of the. clamp-ondevices embodying a'windin'g drum having an operating handle that isdisposed within easy'reach of an operatorwhereby the um-' brella mayberaised or lowered in a quick and easy manher without the necessity ofreaching upwardly to release the normal spring latch which, in manyinstances, is .extremely d'ifiicult; especially where the umbrella 'issup: ported centrally of a lawn table.

Novel features of construction and operation of the device 'will be'clearly apparent during the course of the. foilowingdescription;reference being had to the accompanyingdrawi'ngs wherein'has beendisclosed a preferred fornr of the device and wherein likecharacters ofref-.' erence are employed to denote like parts throughout the severalfigures;

lnthe drawingsz Figurel isaside elevation of the device in use upon an.

Figure-3 is a side elevation of an upper cable guide,

Figure 4 is-a-section taken substantially on line 4-4 of' Figure 1 withthe cable omitted,

Figure-j is an end elevation ofthe winding device,"

Figure 6-is a section taken substantially on line of Figured, and"Figure 7 is a section takensu'bstantially on line '7-"7 of Figure 5.

Referring" specific'allyno the drawings, the numeral 5 designates theusual' and well known supporting standard-er pole for the umbrella, hereshown as being solid, although it-will be app arent that the device ofthis inventionis just as-applicable to the tubular standards. Supportedat the upper end of the pole:5 is the usual and well known umbrella 6constructed in a conventional manner and shifted to the open or closedposition under the influence of the usual and well known radial rods 7.The rods 7 are pivotally connected, as at 8, to the usual sliding collar9. The collar 9 is shiftable along the pole 5 for spreading or loweringthe umbrella 6. The collar 9 is normally retained in its elevatedposition by the usual and well known spring latch, here omitted, sincethe latch now forms no part of the means for maintaining the umbrella inthe upper or spread position.

Means are provided to manually raise and lower the umbrella, consistingof a lower winding device, designated as a whole by the numeral 10, andan upper cable guide, designated as a whole by the numeral 11. Thewinding device embodies a pair of cooperating elongated clamps .12l'andl13 Each. of the clamps- 12 and 13- havetheir opposediaees grooved as at14 and 15 forpartial embracing and Iclamping engagement upon. the .pole5: The clamps 12and .13 are held in rigid clamping engager ment upon.the pole 5 by screws 16 .thatpass through the clamp 13. to havethreadedengagement within threaded aperturesof the clamp .12. Atone side,the..clamp 12 has been extended to provide a semi-cylindrical boss..17that is. apertured .to. receive ashaft .18 that extends for-. wardly ofthe clamp.12 forthe rotatable reception .of .awinding drum .19.The.shaft.18 ispreferably rigidly mounted against rotation. while the.drum.10' is .rotatable thereon. The drum. 19 includes :fianges :2lland21 -and with the flange 20-provided withlapreferably integral windinghandle 22.. Theflange 20 is' furtherprovidedwith a diagonallydisposediaperture 23 for the anchoring. reception of one. end of awinding cable '24. The cable. 24 at assembly has one. .free'end passthrough the .aperr. ture 23 to be subsequentlyknotted fuponthe outerfaceof the flange 20, as at 25. Means are provided to lock' the drum 19against rotation, consisting of-a shiftable pin 26" that issIidablethrough aligned apertures 27 and. 28 formed withinthe. clampsl3 and 12.Oneend of the pin 26 is engageable. withina selected aperture 29formedwithin the flange 21. and servesto prevent. rotation of; the drum.with respect to the winding device 10... The device10Iis'mounteduponzthe poler5 at.a.point..that is-. within-convenient.reaehof .an operator.

The cable guide lLembodiesapair of mating clamps 30' and..31- havingvtheir .opposed faces grooved at. 32 and. 33'for.the.partial embracingandclamping. engagement. of .the device uponthe pole 5. at a-point.adjacent. the upper endof the pole and at a point. above themaximum.upward .movement .of the sleeve 9, when the .umbrellais. fully extended.Theclampjlis.providedwith a..fiX6d stub.shaft..34 for the rotatablereception of a grooved pulley 35. A concentric guard .plate.36.ispreferably cast integralwiththe clamp. .31 .andclo'sely overlies .thepulley 35 as a .means toprevent! the accidentaldisplacement of: the.cable. 2410 be .passedltherearound. The-upper free end of the cable.24is. preferablyanchored .in.any;con-. venient .manner .upon .the sleeve9. 'such, for .instance,: as looping and tyingthe free.end thereof.about one of the pivotal connections. 8. of. the. umbrella, thusavoiding. any additionalpins or. other.connecting means. The devices 10and 11.1.. are cast .or stampedfrom suitable metal having.rust-resisting, qualities, since quite fre-. quentlyumbrellas areemployed-in. beach :areas :where the metal parts soon-become rusted, andit is one purpose of thisv invention to provide .a structure ofthischaracter. that has arelatively long lifetand may beremoved andreplaceduponaother umbrellas at will.

11111161156 of the device the-umbrella is elevated and. latched'intheusual and well known manner, after which the cable-guide v11.isri-gidly'mountedata point slightly,

above the maximum upper position of'the-sleeve 9. The. device 10 :isthen:anchored at: a convenient pointof reach. upon. the pole 5 and withathedrum 10 and vthe pulley, 35 being substantially parallel 'to each other.The cable 24 is then passed through the aperture 23 and its end knottedat 25 to prevent displacement thereof. The opposite end of the cable isthen trained about the pulley 35, brought downwardly and wound about oneof the pivotal ears of the sleeve 9 and securely tied in position withthe cable being relatively taut. It should be understood, of course,that when drawing the cable taut, the locked end 26 should be engagedwithin one of the apertures 29 of the flange 21. It will further beobvious that the lower end of the cable 24 has been wound about the druma sufiicient number of turns to permit the full lowering action of theumbrella, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. With the drum 10 lockedagain rotation by the pin 26, the usual spring latch for the sleeve 9may be permanently disengaged or shifted to and held in inactiveposition. Now, when the umbrella is to be lowered, the operator graspsthe handle 22 to prevent rotation of the drum 19 and shifts the lock pin26 out of engagement with the flange 21. Then, by holding the handle 22,the operator may wind the drum and feed the cable 24 aboutthe pulley 25to the point where the umbrella has been fully collapsed. The elevatedor extending of the umbrella is accomplished in a reverse manner bywinding the drum 19 in a direction to wind the cable thereon, elevatingthe sleeve 9 to spread the umbrella to the desired tautness, at whichtime the pin 26 is shifted to locking engagement with the flange 21.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a very novel and highlydesirable means has been provided for the control of the usual and wellknown beach or lawn umbrellas." It frequently happens that indisengaging the old and well known retaining latch for the sleeve 9, thefingers or thumb of the operator are injured, and this inventioncompletely avoids that difliculty. In other instances the umbrella maybe supported centrally of a garden table and at such elevation as makesit extremely diflicult, to reach the device of the umbrella and usuallyrequires that the umbrella be fully removed from the table to permit theoperator to reach upwardly for release of the latch to permit theumbrella to be collapsed. This invention completely avoids the necessityof moving the umbrella from the table. The device is quickly and easilyvmounted to operative positions with the winding drum device beingpositioned at an elevation convenient to the reach of an individualoperating the device. The parts are few and simple, are strong, durable,cheap to manufacture and highly convenient in use. While the clamps andassociated elements have been indicated as being cast or stamped frommetal, it will be apparent that the devices may be formed of othermaterials, such as plastic. Further, the use of the invention requiresno additions or changes in the umbrella structure.

It is to be understood, that the invention is not limited to the preciseconstruction shown, but that changes are contemplated as fall within thespirit of the invention, as determined by the scope of the subjoinedclaims.

' Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

'1. In combination with a lawn umbrella having a supporting pole and acover connected thereto to be raised and lowered, a collar slidable uponthe pole and having means connected thereto to raise and lower theumbrella, a cable winding device that is clamped upon the pole below thecollar, a cable guide pulley clamped to the pole above the collar, acable wound upon the winding device and extending upwardly and about theguide pulley and with the free end of the cable being connected to thecollar, manual means for actuating the winding device to wind the cablethereon whereby to cause the collar to be elevated upon the pole forraising the umbrella and latch means associated with the winding devicewhereby to prevent the winding device from moving in a reverse directionwhen the umbrella has been 6 raised, the latch means when releasedpermitting the umbrella to be lowered by gravity as the cable is unwoundfor the non-rotatable support of a forwardly extending shaft, a Windingdrum rotatable'on the shaft and with the drum having end flanges, oneflange adjacent the clamping plate being provided with a plurality ofspaced apart apertures, the other of said flanges being provided with anaperture for the anchoring connection of one end of the cable, the saidlast named flange being provided with a winding handle, the clamp plateseach provided with a cylindrical opening and with the openings being inaxial alignment, the said latch means comprising a latch pin slidablejointly in the openings whereby the pin may be shifted to engage in aselected aperture of the apertured first named flange whereby to preventrotation of the winding drum accidentally when the a cable windingdevice that is clamped upon the pole below the collar, a cable guidepulley clamped to the pole above the collar, a cable wound upon thewinding device and extending upwardly and about the guide pulley andwith the free end of the cable being connected to the collar, manualmeans for actuating the winding device to wind the cable thereon wherebyto cause the collar to be elevated upon the pole for raising theumbrella and latch means associated with the winding device whereby toprevent the winding device from moving in a reverse direction when theumbrella has been raised, the latch means when released permitting the,umbrella to be lowered by gravity as the cable is unwound from thewinding device, the said winding device com-' prising the said cableguide pulley being rotatably supported upon a two-part clamping device,the clamping device embodying a pair of mating clamp plates that havetheir opposed faces vertically grooved wherebyto partially embrace thepole when the clamps are in clamping position, screw devices between theclamp plates whereby to shift them toward each other forbindingengagement upon the pole, one clamp plate havingja forwardly projectingshaft fixed with respect thereto, the said guide pulley being rotatableupon the shaft for guiding traverse of the cable and a concentric flangeformed upon the last named clamp plate that overlies the pulley wherebyto prevent accidental displacement of the cable from the pulley.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS849,727 Crary Apr. 9, 1907 1,086,118 Alexander Feb. 3, 1914 2,249,433Palmer July 15, 1941 2,595,697 Pereira May 6, 1952

